I’m Gen Z and I Have $80,000 Invested In Real Estate — Here’s How I Did It

Times are changing. It’s easier today for Gen Z real estate investors — age 26 and younger — to buy a house than it was for millennials and Gen Xers when they were the same age. In 2023, the homeownership rate among 24-year-olds was 27.8%, according to Newsweek .

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GoBanking Rates spoke to Benjamin Njila Fields, a Gen Z real estate investor and UC Berkeley Ph.D. student, about how he turned $80,000 in multiple real estate investments in the U.S. and other countries into $110,000.

“I have invested approximately $80,000 in real estate across the United States and West Africa that is worth over six figures today,” said Fields.

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Where Fields Invested His Money

Fields’ goal was to buy a decent amount of acreage and use it to build a home once he got a ”big boy job” and was ready to settle down with a family. He said he’s not too concerned about squeezing out every ounce of profit at the moment, since he has decades ahead of him for his investments to appreciate.

“I bought a piece of land in my home state of Oklahoma for $25,000, invested in raw land in Cameroon West Africa for [my] personal residence, [as well as] residential investments, hotel properties and agricultural land in Cameroon and Benin, West Africa,” he said.

He said he plans to split time between America and other countries in the future, and it made sense to build in Cameroon, since his family “hails from there.”

He also invested in agricultural land in Benin out of curiosity. “I studied agriculture a little bit in undergrad and was very interested to see how it could pan out.”

“Seeing a huge plantation with cashews, coffee beans and cocoa growing was pretty cool, and the investment was not that large,” Fields said. “When you are working with hundreds of acres, the amount of product you can produce is insane.”

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Advantages of Investing In West Africa

Commercial residential properties make lucrative investments, especially in African countries, according to Fields.

“You can build either apartment buildings or hotels for under $200,000, and the cash flow is an insane amount of money with no property taxes, insurance or heavy maintenance to worry about.” Building materials and concrete have longevity over in Cameroon, Fields said.

He added, “African countries are cash economies, so you do not need to worry about non-payment. People pay their rent a year in advance in Cameroon as a standard, so you can make your money back quickly.”

How He Did It

Investing in land and real estate took a significant amount of time for Fields. He had to research creative financing deals and even take out loans.

“My first investment was buying raw land in Oklahoma; I had to [borrow] money from my mother and a personal loan to get the land, ” Fields said. “After a year, I finally paid my mom and personal loan back and took a nice vacation for the effort!”

“The irony is that on vacation, I saw a great land deal in Cameroon and took a loan on the Citi App, withdrew the cash and bought raw land in Douala, [a city in Cameroon]; I then began saving cash more extensively so I could [invest in smaller] deals in Cameroon and Benin.”

Stay Anonymous By Purchasing Real Estate Through a Trust

In Oklahoma, Fields said you can go to any county assessor and find out who owns land, what price people paid for it and other information. He chose to purchase real estate through a trust to remain anonymous and conceal his personal information.

Field plans to purchase fixed-income treasuries or REITs to cover property taxes on anything he buys in the U.S.

“Even if you pay your property off, you can be liable for property taxes and even road assessments if you buy raw land in a subdivision,” he said. “Knowing I have money in fixed income [treasuries] that I can always recover if I fall on hard times is a great anxiety reliever.”

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : I’m Gen Z and I Have $80,000 Invested In Real Estate — Here’s How I Did It